Apparatus for separating commingled stock



March 3, 1942. H. H. COLLIER 2,274,887

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COMMINGLED STOCK Filed March 2, 1940 Even/Z0 I his Aiofne 5 M13? M27 a Patented Mar. 3, 1942 Delaware APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING COMMINGLED s'roox Harwood H. Collier, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Hart-Cartel" Company, a corporation of Application March 2, 1940, Serial No. 321,935

1 Claim.

My invention provides an improvedapparatus for separating commingled materials of varyin size and specific gravity.

Broadly stated, the invention consists of the novel devices, combinations of devices and arrangement of parts involved in an improved machine or apparatus, for separating wheat germ from other materials that are commingled in the process of making wheat fiour.

Inthe process of milling wheat flour there is produced a commingled stock quite generally designated as germ stock" or sizing stock. This commingled stock contains (a) wheat germ; (b) certain materials not wheat germ but of approximately the same size but of different specific gravity such as middlings; and (c) finer materials such as bran and flour.

With my improved apparatus 1 first separate materials of substantially the same size but of different specific gravity, such as those above designated under sub-headings a and b, from the majority of finer and lighter material's, designated as c, and, thereafter, or as the second step, projecting the materials a and b of substantially the same size, on lines of varying trajectory and collecting the various materials according to their specific gravity.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a novel apparatus or machine for carrying out the process above described.

For performing the first step of the process above outlined, I employ a rotary cylindrical screen, of such mesh that will pass therethrough the finer materials, such as flour, but will tailover the wheat germ a and materials of substantially the same size as wheat germ but of less specific gravity; and the second step is carried out by feed rollers running at such velocity that the heavier materials, such as wheat germ, will be projected on longer trajectories than will the material of like size but of less specific gravity. The rollers or rotating devices for thus projecting the stock on different trajectories, act as a catapulting device, and hence, will be frequently so designated in this specification and in the claim.

Referring to the drawing wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

casing 5 provided at its top with a supply hopper 6 and at its bottom with hopper-like receiving troughs or chambers 1., 8 and 9, all of which are opened at their bottoms. The walls of the hoppers l and 8 areunited at In, and the walls of the hoppers 8 and 9 are united at H, and at the point ll an'adjustable trough extension blade or deflector I2 is pivoted at I3.

Immediately under the open bottom of the supply hopper 6 is a cylindrical or drum-like screen H, the shaft l5 of which is extended through and journaled in the sides of the casing; and, in the structure illustrated, is provided with a pulley l6 over which runs a power-driven belt l1.

At a point considerably below and offset from the feed screen II is a catapulting drum or roller I9, the shaft 20 of which is extended through and journaled in the sides of the casing and, as shown, is provided with a pulley 2| over which runs a power-driven belt 22. Mounted immediately above but slightly spaced from the roller or drum I9 is a similar roller or drum 23, the shaft 24 of which is extended through and journaled in bearings on the sides of the casing and, as shown, is provided with a pulley 25 over which runs a power-driven belt 26. Located on the receiving sides of the rollers I9 and 23 is an inclined feed board or blade 21 that is pivoted to the sides of the casing by a transverse shaft or .rod 28. The faces of the rollers l9 and 23 are preferably smooth and, in practice, if they become rough, should be Occasionally turned down or smoothed up.

The blades or boards 12 and 21 are made adjustable and, in practice, will be frictionally or otherwise held in the required adjustments by Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through the o complete apparatus or machine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine or apparatus, some parts being broken away; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Operation The operation of the apparatus is substantially as follows.

The commingled materials assumed to contain (a) wheat germ, (b) certain materials not wheat The apparatus illustrated includes an enclosing germ but approximately of the same size but of difierent specific gravity, such as middlings, and,

by the latter delivered onto the roller i9 and under the roller 23. Usually the initial stock will be divided about fifty per cent (50%) 01' the.

flour or fine materials and fifty per cent (50%) of the said materials a and b but, in practice, there will usually be some of the flour carried with the materials a and b to the catapulting rollers. By the catapulting rollers the relatively heavy wheat germ a and particles b, with a small percent of the flour 0, will be projected by these catapulting rollers substantially as indicated by the arrows marked on Fig. 1, wherein the ar-' rows (1 indicate the trajectories of the wheat germ, the arrows b indicate the trajectories of the lighter materials of substantially the size of wheat germ, and the arrows 0 indicate the trajectories of the relatively small part of the finer materials, such as flour.

through the hopper 'l where it is commingled with the main body of the flour, while the wheat germ will be projected into hopper 9 and the lighter particles of substantially the size of wheat germ, will be caught in the hopper 8. By ad- J'ustments of the blade or leaf i2 the desired I division between the above particles a and b may be varied.

The feed board 21 may be angularly adjusted so that the desired proportion of the material From this it will be -noted that the flour or very fine materials passed will be delivered to the catapulting rollers; and the blade or'trough extension I2 may be ad- Justed so as to make the desired division between wheat germ and materials 01' like size but of difi'erent specific gravity. At this point it may be stated that very frequently a one hundred I percent separation between the wheat germ and the other materials is not desired and that the degree of separation may be varied by the ad- 'Justments of the said blade I! and feed board 21.

An important function of the upper roller 23 is to keep the commingled stock pressed in'a frictional contact with the lower drum or roller I! so that the particles will be given the required velocity to project them into the compartments .or troughs intended to receive them. However,

both of the rollers have a co-operating catapulting or stock-projecting action.

A preferred form of the apparatus has been illustrated and described, but it will, of course, be understood that the invention is capable of various modifications as to details of construction and relative arrangement of parts all within the scope of the invention herein disclosed and claimed.

What I claim is:

In a machine of the kind described, a casing having catch receptacles in its lower portion, a rotary cylindrical screen in the upper portion of said casing, means for delivering onto the exterior of said screen material to be separated, a pair of cooperating catapulting rollers in said casing arranged to receive the coarser materials from said screen and to project the same over the underlying catch receptacles, one of said catch receptacles being located immediately below said rollers and receiving the finer particles passing thru said screen.

' HARWOOD H. COLLIER. 

